Do not worry, devoted fans of Alvin & Friends — the New Rochelle restaurant with the Southern Caribbean influenced menu. The restaurant’s recent move to a larger location on Memorial Highway did not dilute the bistro’s charm.

The new space features the same casually elegant atmosphere, the same menu (try the fried chicken!) and the same highly personable service led by the ever-engaging New Rochelle resident, owner Alvin Clayton, whose Matisse-inspired paintings give the restaurant its signature look.

The larger space offers enhanced bar seating for casual dining (including a new bar menu and a stunning communal table), a stylish main dining room that accommodates 65 (as opposed to the 50 it could handle before), as well as a separate dining room for private parties, corporate meetings and special events. There are also plans for outdoor dining on the spacious plaza in front of the restaurant.

The menu continues to feature favorites like jerk chicken wings, cornmeal-crusted fried oysters and jerk-rubbed duck breast, but now there are new flavors featured on the restaurant’s debut lunch menu including a Catfish Po’boy and Caesar salad with jerk shrimp, as well as a lunch-sized portion of the restaurant’s renowned fried chicken.

“We’re very excited about the new location because it will give us the flexibility to offer our customers more options,” says Clayton. “They can enjoy our full menu in the dining room, but they can also just have a nice glass of wine and a quick bite at the bar before a show at the New Rochelle Public Library or after the movies.”

The restaurant has an 80-seat private dining room, and there are also plans for live music and late-night jazz when it is not being used for parties.

“The restaurant is really an extension of my home,” says Clayton. “I know that people have choices, and I’m genuinely honored that they choose to be with us, and I make sure they know I appreciate it.”